Closings Begin in NYC Jogger Karina Vetrano's Murder Trial

Closings Begin in NYC Jogger Karina Vetrano’s Murder Trial

Closing arguments are expected to begin Monday in the murder trial of the 22-year-old man accused of killing a young woman when she went out for a run in her Queens neighborhood more than two years ago. 

Karina Vetrano, 30, went out for her usual run on Aug. 2, 2016. She never came home. Her father, Phil Vetrano, was among the group that found her body in Howard Beach’s Spring Creek Park hours after she was reported missing. 

Phil Vetrano broke down on the stand as he testified about the horror. 

“I let out this sound that I — that I never made before or since. It was — I don’t know. It was like a wail,” he recalled. “And then I screamed, ‘My baby, my baby.’”

Chanel Lewis, 22, was arrested in the killing about six months after Vetrano’s death. In a confession tape played during the trial last week, Lewis was heard saying he was angry about the loud music his neighbor had been playing when he encountered Vetrano jogging on the park trail. 

“While you were in the park, did something happen?” Assistant District Attorney Peter McCormack asks Lewis on the tape, which is dated Feb. 5, 2017.

“Yes,” Lewis replied.

Lewis then admits that he “got angry and started hitting [Vetrano]” in the face and mouth, video shows.

At some point during the attack, Vetrano’s tooth broke, he says, adding that Vetrano’s face ended up in a pool of water.

Lewis also admits to putting his hands around Vetrano’s neck and hitting her for about five minutes, before dragging her “somewhere off the pathway.”

Her clothing was “pulled off,” but Lewis denies sexually assaulting her.

Lewis, who was 20 when he allegedly sexually assaulted and strangled Vetrano, has been charged with murder and sexual abuse in her death. Prosecutors said he was connected to the case via DNA evidence obtained from underneath Vetrano’s fingernails. The medical examiner had said she fought for her life.

Lewis has pleaded not guilty. He is being represented by Legal Aid, which has said it has “serious doubts” about evidence-gathering and police activities leading to his arrest. He faces up to life in prison if he is convicted. 

Photo Credit: News 4
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